I tend to reinstall my OS every two / three months, sometimes even every month. Will it be any kind of problem with Steam if I reinstall Skyrim repeatedly (that's why I liked disks for Morrowind and Oblivion)? Note that it's always on the same (reformatted) computer (but it switches between XP / Vista / 7 at times).

(NB before someone advises me that I could defrag my disk / use system restore instead etc: thank you very much to be thoughtful, it's just that I have to do some unusual things with programs and file systems, and it turns out that it's easier to simply erase and reinstall everything afterwards.)

Thank you!

No....

Steam itself has no issues with it. The issue comes when the publisher is using another form of DRM. In that case, the page in the Steam store for that game will tell you how many times you're allowed to install total.

Thank you for the fast answer.
Will it be a problem with Skyrim then because of Bethesda? I don't really care about any other game than theirs.
(So, all I want is: to be able to reinstall Skyrim / Oblivion / Morrowind on the same computer every other month).

Again, check the page on the Steam store. If it will be a problem, they'll tell you explicitly how many total installs and stuff under 3rd Party DRM on the far right.

There are other options.

Do you have more than 1 HDD/SSD? I install my OS to my 80GB SSD then use my 1TB Caviar Black for all my programs. Once Steam is on there, you never need re-install it. Even though the OS re-install wipes Steam from the registry, Steam still works. (Unlike many other games/programs.)

The other option is to make backups to whatever storage medium you may have. (HDD/SSD/DVD/Mem. stick)

Goto: Library>(Right click)Skyrim>Backup game files

for skyrim, you'll only need to verify integrity of game on it, for some reason there are a few things done to the operating system, most likely just a few registry entries, that have to be re-done after reinstalling your operating system

Ah, the general page on the steam website? I thought you meant some page on an account on mine (I don't have any yet). I see no restriction there then, good.



Great, there's a second drive on my computer, that I use for documents and files only (and I don't wipe that one). I'll put it there then. That backup option sounds good too. Thanks a lot!

My pleasure.